


The Yawning Grave

by Aipilosse



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Canonical Character Death, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Disturbing Themes, Gen, Horror, Inspired by Music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:22:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27143788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aipilosse/pseuds/Aipilosse
Summary: Written for Doriath Week, Day Four, Elured, Elurin, and ElwingEluréd knew there were rules. He chose to break them. A dark fairy tale re-telling of the Second Kinslaying.
Relationships: Eluréd & Elurín (Tolkien)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 15
Collections: Doriath Week 2020





	The Yawning Grave

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by "The Yawning Grave" by Lord Huron. And I re-read The Old Forest while writing this.

It’s an agreement they have. It’s older than the first rain drop, and it knows the secret paths of birds. It will teach them the secrets of tree and rock, bird and fish, through singing on the breeze. The grain of the wood speaks to them through their fingertips.

If Eluréd followed the rules very carefully, anything was possible. For a song and dance, he could swim through the streams as the fish, never needing air and never feeling cold. With the right sacrifice, and the right organs, he could grow as tall as the trees, and see all that could be seen for miles. Best of all, for only a little blood, he could become one of the small folk. Better to be a buzzing bee or wriggling worm than a little boy. Bees and worms knew the secrets of the flowers and the earth that were forgotten as soon as the boy form was resumed. 

“Be careful,” his father said. “It has given us gifts, but it is hungry and can just as easily take them away.”

“Be careful,” his mother said. “Don’t stray too far when night falls. Darkness brings evil things.”

They say this because the darkness grows in Menegroth without the Girdle. One by one, Morgoth was gobbling up the elven kingdoms like the fish in the pond eat the food Eluréd tosses them. His mother and father tried to hide their fear from him, but he can see their tension in the way they jump easily and twitch when something brushes their skin. 

Elwing was too young to really know; although she could repeat the uncanny songs, she didn’t really understand. Elurín still believed that their mother and father were stronger than any monster, so he only used their gifts to make pretty pictures and play silly games. Eluréd knew better. It was only a matter of time until the monsters in the stories came for them.

~

He had been warned. Don’t go into the woods, you will get lost. The signs were all there - moss on the wrong side of the rock, the black nightingale, and the dead fish. The songs and poems had taught them the rules.

He had pressed on anyway, the path glimmered like starlight under his feet.  _ What you’re looking for is hard to find, but it is there for you sweet prince _ , it said to him. _ You can shape yourself into something no one can touch, something more powerful than the great bear or more fearful than the terrible wolf. You can drive the fear from your father's eyes and let your mother sleep without a spear by her side. _

“How much will it be?” he asked. He knew there were rules.

_ Not too much _ came the answer.

In the clearing rose a tree larger and older than any he had seen before.  _ Surely I would have seen this before; I am not too far from home _ , he thought. 

He started with the kitten he had brought with him, snapping its neck and placing it in the hollow of the tree. 

“This is my gift to you. A kitten small and fierce. Now grant me claws that rend and teeth that pierce,” he said.

_ A kitten - that’s a start. I can give you claws like knives and teeth that take lives. But it’s not enough for all that you wish; what more can you give? _

Eluréd was taken aback - he had thought the kitten would be enough. He had cared for the small creature and had cried himself to sleep last night thinking about its death the next day.

Eluréd unbuckled his sword from around his waist. He held it in his hands for a moment before putting it in the hollow of the tree. His heart was racing and his throat hurt. He loved his sword - his father had given it to him because he was big now, and he trusted him. But the strength he would get would be as good as six swords.

“This is my gift to you. A sword sharp and bright. Now grant me the most strength and greatest might.”

_ Good, good. Your knife smells of love and pain. You’ll be strong as the bear or a wyrm in its lair. _

The darkness around Eluréd grew deeper.  _ But that is not enough. _

Now Eluréd was very upset. What more could he give? He was still a boy, he had no hoards of gems or elves to command. Unless.

“What..” Could he really do this? “What about my brother?”

_ Your brother? I don’t see him. _ A horrible creaking laugh filled his head.  _ Are you trying to give me something that’s not yours to give? _

“I can get him for you. I promise.” Eluréd thought hard. If he was granted everything he asked, who could stand against him? He would bring his brother, and then take him back. He could see himself now, bounding through the woods, moonlight glinting on his teeth, his paws shaking the earth beneath them. In his mind his mother and his father were sleeping safe at home, Elwing curled between them, smiles on their faces. His brother rode on his back and they were both even stronger together. 

_ Do you swear, little one? _

“I swear,” he said. His voice did not quaver.

_ Take your teeth and strength and return with your brother. If you do not return in three days time, I will come for you. _

With a  _ snick _ , the tree closed up, and Elured went back home.

~

On the first day, he told himself he needed a plan. He took out some charcoal and carefully wrote down a story where a brave warrior with an axe chopped down a tree. 

“What do you have there?” Nimloth asked him when she saw him writing.

“A plan,” Eluréd answered as he let her read.

Nimloth frowned. “Chopping down trees; who taught you that? That won’t do.”

Frustrated, Eluréd scribbled over his words.

Later that evening, a raven stopped by. “Elurín, Elurín,” it said.

Elurín was delighted. “He knows my name!”

Eluréd’s stomach flipped; he knew the raven was reminding him of the price.

On the second day, he resolved to practice with the sword all day. He hacked at the practice dummy and at his trainer. He practiced until blisters formed and he was so tired he couldn’t raise his arm.

His mother begged him to come to dinner.

“Fight me first!” he demanded.

She appeased him, picking up a practice sword. THWACK THWACK tap THWACK. Eluréd found himself disarmed, sprawling on the ground. He began to cry.

“Whatever is the matter, child?” Nimloth asked. “I know I didn’t hurt you.”

“I’m not good enough!” he said between sobs.

“Patience, you’re still small. You have years ahead of practice!”

Worn out, he dragged himself to dinner. After dinner, as he wandered back to his room, Elurín running ahead, he heard,  _ There are rules _ .

“I know, I know!” he told the stag’s head who had spoken to him. “I’ll pay, I promise!’

The stag did not reply.

On the third day, he told his brother to grab his sword.

“Where is yours?” Elurín asked. 

“I lost it,” Eluréd said, avoiding his brother’s eyes.

“Father will be so mad!”

He led his brother into the woods, promising a fun game. Menegroth was barely out of sight before he veered from his path and took Elurín to the river instead where they slid down the snowy banks all afternoon instead.

That evening, Eluréd half heartedly plucked at his harp. His family was gathered together. His father wrote letters, his mother was embroidering, and Elurín was drawing.

Elwing came over to him, and put her tiny hand on his knee. “Eluréd, they say there will be a reckoning.” She still couldn’t say her r’s. She smiled at him, and skipped back over to where her dollhouse was.

~

The next day, he woke up later than usual - his nurse hadn’t woken him at the usual time. In the halls, people spoke in frightened whispers.

His brother found him. “They’re coming,” he said, his eyes wide and anxious.

Eluréd knew there were rules, and that he had broken them. Now evil and darkness was coming for them, and an account must be made of their actions.

His father and mother cursed the Silmaril, but the Silmaril was just a shining gem, for all it’s beauty and blessedness. It could not whisper in the hearts of Fëanor’s heirs by itself. It was hallowed by Elbereth herself; no evil could touch it. The Oath was sleeping, and being no thing of nature, it would not wake unless something stirred it. 

The day dragged on. They had to hide in the deepest part of Menegroth. Outside soldiers rushed to and fro. His mother and father left, and came back, and left again. They held frantic conversations about the Silmaril, starting with whispers and ending with Dior yelling, “I will not hide what’s mine!”

Eluréd wanted to tell them to stop, that it wasn’t the Silmaril, but he was too scared. 

He knew it was late when his parents finally both left. His nurse was praying in a corner.

“Elurín, I have a secret but I need your help.” 

His brother nodded. “Do you have a plan?”

“Better. I have a new shape.”

They snuck out of the room where they were hiding, and Eluréd tried to Change. He felt his bones stretch, his nails twist into claws, and his vision turned wavy. But then he got stuck. He twitched and shook and pawed the ground, trying to finish his transformation, but as hard as he tried he couldn’t shift completely into his dream form. 

Finally he stopped, exhausted. Elurín was crouched at the other end of the side room they had hidden in, shaking.

“Turn back Eluréd, turn back,” he begged.

‘I can’t’ Eluréd tried to say, but his tongue was strange now, and all that came out was a garbled sound. He just shook his head.

He tried to speak using his mind. Words were still hard, but he sent an image of the path through the woods.

His brother understood, wiped his eyes, and Changed into his squirrel form, scrambling up Eluréd’s hunched and patchy back to crouch behind his ear.

Eluréd ran through the halls as fast he could. He was much stronger now, but because he could not finish his form, his legs were too long to run on all fours while his back was too hunched to run on two. Elves ran screaming from him, but he ignored them. They were almost out. He could fix things.

Suddenly something slammed into him, sending him toppling over and Elurín flying.

“Halt foul beast,” the warrior cried, raising a mighty sword. His fair hair was streaked with blood, and on his breast a rayed star shone.

Elurín shook himself and went for his throat.

In his mind his brother was frantically trying to get his attention.  _ Flee escape no run no no evil evil evil _ . Elurín didn’t care. The fair warrior shouldn’t have been in his way. And besides, the blood tasted so good. 

Finally Elurín threw his tiny squirrel self at Eluréd. That finally broke through his fog and stopped his feast. The warrior was a distraction, he needed to make it to the tree.

Elurín climbed back on his shoulder. Whatever Eluréd was now, they were still brothers, twins, and two halves of a whole.

Eluréd found the glimmering path and followed it, running with his awkward lope. 

When they finally reached the tree, Eluréd let out a howl of despair: the hollow was closed, and the tree was completely still.

Elurín changed back into a boy. He turned his empty eyes to Eluréd.

“Maybe you have to get closer,” he said, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

Eluréd approached the tree, sending all his thought towards it.  _ Please please please _ was the only word he could remember.

Elurín spoke, his voice clear and ringing. “Though his form is changed, I brought you my twin. Please take him and save the rest of my kin.”

Eluréd was frozen in place, transformed from predator to prey. _ Your mother and father’s blood already waters the earth. Only the little bird remains _ , the voice creaked.

“Please save her,” Elurín said, his voice shaking, his confidence gone with the words of the spell.

_ I accept your price _ , it said.

Something was pulling at Eluréd, dragging him towards the yawning mouth of the tree. The last thing he heard was  _ snick _ .


End file.
